Magnetic cards are used to store various types of data and are applied in different areas including payment cards, gift cards, security access control systems, identification system and even toys. Data are encoded magnetically on magnetic stripes that are usually attached to a plastic or paper card. The data can be retrieved by using magnetic card readers. Magnetic card readers have a magnetic head that picks up magnetic signals from the magnetic stripe of a card. Since the strength of the magnetic signals from the magnetically encoded data on the stripe is usually weak, the magnetic head of the card reader and the magnetic stripe need to be in close contact in order to generate a good data read.
In manually operated magnetic card readers, there is usually a card gliding groove with two opposing walls. The magnetic head is usually housed in a metal compartment that contains all the electronics inside. The magnetic head is positioned on one of the two opposing walls so that when a card is placed inside the groove, the magnetic stripe on the card and the magnetic head on the card reader are aligned in position. When the user slides the magnetic card along the groove, the encoded data are picked up by the magnetic head. In most cases, the card can be read from both directions, that is, the card cab be slid starting from either end of the groove. To enable a better contact, the magnetic head assembly is usually mounted on a thin metal frame 102 having two wings 103, 104 extending from both sides, as shown in FIG. 1. The metal sheet of the frame 102 is flexible and allows the magnetic head 101 to retract away from the opposing wall when a card is slid across. The wings 103, 104 thus act as a spring that provides a pressure in order to keep the magnetic stripe and the magnetic head in close contact. If the pressure is too small, the contact may not be good enough; on the other hand, if the pressure is too large, the user will find it difficult to slide the card across the groove. In extreme cases, too much pressure can cause abrasion and damage of the card or the magnetic stripe.
Many magnetic card reader head modules are available today and most of them are using a similar design with the two wings for mounting the magnetic head onto one of the opposing walls. One of the problems of the current design is the fact that the frame and the wings increase the overall size of the card reader. This is counter to the current trend in electronic devices for becoming smaller in physical size. It is infeasible to use the same design in a very compact magnetic card reader because of the extended wings. Also, there are increased security requirements on card readers because sensitive data are stored on payment cards. To support the increased security features, a larger magnetic head compartment is needed to house the additional electronic and mechanical components. With a larger magnetic head compartment, the size of the wings also increases and the overall assembly size increases. Thus, there is a need for a new magnetic head mounting mechanism that does not increase overall size of the magnetic card reader.